Cave Hill Visitor Centre is located in the basement of Belfast Castle. Situated on the lower slopes of Cave Hill Country Park, Belfast Castle is a short 20-minute drive from Belfast City Centre, a 10-minute drive from Belfast Zoo and a 12-minute drive from the historic Crumlin Road Gaol. Happy travels! https://visitbelfast.com/partners/belfast-castle-estate-cave-hill-visitor-centre/. [6] It certainly seems that the 'Plantation' castle was, at the very least, built on the site of the U Nill towerhouse, which had probably replaced the Norman castle. Carrickfergus Castle [30] Chichester then placed Belfast Castle and its surrounding settlement under the command of Sir Ralph Lane, the Elizabethan adventurer. Belfast Castle Estate & Cave Hill Visitor Centre [57][58] It is almost certain that Chichester had his 'Plantation' castle built on the site of the Gaelic U Nill towerhouse. A Castle existed from the earliest times, but the arrival of John De Courci, in 1171, made a great change throughout the North of Ireland. Didn't Know About Edinburgh Castle Of Lord Donegall's three children, all by his first wife - two sons and one daughter - Lady Harriet was the only one to have had children of her own and to have outlived her father. things you probably never knew about Dunluce Castle You might be able to see the castle in the second and sixth seasons of the show. One of the beauties of visiting Belfast Castle is that its a short spin away from many of the best things to do in Belfast. This one was destroyed by fire barely 100 years later, leaving only the street names to mark its existence. The new castle was built of stone and timber on the same site as the previous castle. 24 No-one knows what the original name means. He also experiences financial difficulties managing the estate, especially after the various Land Acts passed by the British Parliament during the 1880s, 1890s and early twentieth-century. Castle Its one of the most haunted castles on the island of Ireland. When the head of the Chichester family was advanced in the Peerage of Ireland to being an earl in 1647, they took the title Earl of Donegall due to the family's ownership of this vast estate in Inishowen.